Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period in Florida: what to review before December 7

What you can change between October 15 and December 7

• Switch from one Medicare Advantage plan to another, with or without drug coverage.
• Leave Medicare Advantage for Original Medicare, usually adding a stand-alone Part D plan.
• Move from Original Medicare into a Medicare Advantage plan.
• Join, switch, or drop a stand-alone Part D plan.

Your plan must receive your request by December 7, and the change takes effect January 1. Joining a new plan generally ends your old one automatically, so you don't cancel first. Two side effects to know. If you're in an Advantage plan with drug coverage and you join a stand-alone Part D plan, that moves you back to Original Medicare. And dropping drug coverage without other creditable coverage means waiting for an enrollment period to rejoin, with a possible Part D late-enrollment penalty when you do. If you already have Original Medicare with a Medigap policy, this window isn't about your supplement; it's your yearly chance to re-check your drug plan.

Start with the letter your plan sent in September

Medicare Advantage and Part D plans send an Annual Notice of Change each fall, generally by the end of September, listing what changes on January 1. If you didn't get yours, call your plan. As you read it, check:

1. Costs: premium, deductible, copays, and, for Advantage plans, the out-of-pocket maximum.
2. Each prescription, by name and dosage: still covered, on which tier, and with any new prior authorization or quantity limit?
3. Your pharmacy: preferred, standard, or out of network next year.
4. Your doctors, hospitals, and the service area: still in network, and is the plan still offered in your county?

Next year's plans generally appear on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder around October 1, so you can compare before the window opens.

The Florida checks

Your county's menu. Medicare Advantage plans are approved county by county in Florida, and a county's menu can change from year to year. Compare from next year's list for the county your home address is in, then call each doctor's office and ask whether they'll be in your specific plan next year, including specialists you see in another county. Stand-alone Part D plans are one statewide list in Florida, though each plan's premium, drug list, and pharmacy network can still change from year to year. County-level guides: Polk, Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte, Lee and Collier, and Orange Park and Clay.

If your plan is leaving your county. Plans sometimes stop serving a county or leave Medicare, and you'll get a letter telling you. You can pick a new plan during the Annual Enrollment Period, and you also get a Special Enrollment Period from December 8 through the last day of February. Choose by December 31 to avoid a gap: your old plan ends December 31, and a choice made in January or February starts the first of the following month. If you don't pick a new plan, you'll be returned to Original Medicare on January 1 with no drug coverage, and going 63 days or more in a row without creditable drug coverage can trigger a Part D late-enrollment penalty. One thing works in your favor: if you switch to Original Medicare, a plan leaving your area gives you a guaranteed right to buy certain Medigap plans, meaning a company can't turn you down or charge more because of your health. Apply between 60 days before and 63 days after your Advantage coverage ends.

Leaving Advantage for a Medigap policy? Get approved first. Because Florida has no birthday rule, a Medigap application outside protected situations (your first six months with Part B at 65 or older, a first-year trial right, a plan leaving your area, and a few others) is generally medically underwritten, and the company can decline you. The Annual Enrollment Period doesn't change that. The order that protects you:

1. While still in your Advantage plan, apply for the Medigap policy with a January 1 start date. Start early; underwriting takes time.
2. Get the approval in writing.
3. Then join a stand-alone Part D plan by December 7, which generally moves you to Original Medicare on January 1 with drug coverage in place. (If you have VA or other creditable drug coverage and don't want a Part D plan, disenroll from your Advantage plan instead by contacting your plan or calling 1-800-MEDICARE by December 7.)

If you're declined, you've given nothing up; keep your Advantage plan or pick another for next year. Reverse the order, and a decline could leave you in Original Medicare with no supplement and no guaranteed way to get one. If approval comes after December 7, you can still make the move during Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment (January 1 – March 31), but ask the insurance company before January 1 to move your Medigap start date to match; it may review your health again for the new date.

One exception can skip underwriting altogether: a trial right. If you joined Medicare Advantage when you were first eligible at 65, or dropped a Medigap policy to try Advantage for the first time, you generally have 12 months from joining to return to Original Medicare with a guaranteed right to buy a Medigap policy. You don't have to wait for this window to use it, and your 12 months can run out before January 1, so check your dates now. The conditions and the 63-day application window are on the Florida Medicare Advantage guide, with the wider rules on the Florida Medigap page.

Your prescriptions. Drug lists, tiers, and pharmacy networks can change every year, for stand-alone Part D plans and for the drug coverage built into Advantage plans. The Florida Part D guide covers what to compare.

Retiree or union coverage? Call your benefits administrator first. Joining a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan can end coverage from a former employer or union, sometimes for good, and sometimes for your spouse or dependents too.

Hurricanes. The window opens while hurricane season is still running. If a declared hurricane or emergency keeps you from making a change you were entitled to make, a disaster Special Enrollment Period may give you more time; it isn't automatic, and the window depends on the declaration. The simpler protection is not leaving your review for the final days before December 7.

Snowbirds. Your plan choice follows the county of your permanent address, and an Advantage plan's network is local, so check how a plan handles routine care in your other state. See Medicare for snowbirds.

Medicaid or Extra Help? You can make certain drug-coverage changes once a month, not just in the fall; see Medicare and Medicaid in Florida.

If a hospital or doctor group is leaving your plan's network

Medicare Advantage plans and health systems sign contracts with each other, and sometimes those contracts end at the start of a new year. If a hospital system or medical group you use is leaving your plan's network on January 1, this window is your chance to respond:

• Don't wait for the letter. A provider leaving the network isn't the same as the plan changes in your Annual Notice of Change. Plans must send written notice to affected patients at least 30 days before a provider's contract ends, or 45 days (plus an attempted phone call) for primary care and behavioral health providers. For a January 1 change, that notice can arrive in mid-November or as late as early December. If you hear about a change from the news or your doctor's office, you can start comparing now.
• Confirm next year's network directly. Ask each office whether they'll be in network with your specific plan in January, and check each plan's provider directory for next year.
• Contracts are sometimes renewed late. Decide with what you know by December 7. If you're in an Advantage plan on January 1, Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment (January 1 – March 31) allows one more change, which starts the first of the following month, so you could be out of network for part of the new year.
• In the middle of treatment? Ask your plan about its continuity-of-care process. Some patients in active treatment can keep seeing a provider at in-network rates for a limited time.
• A Special Enrollment Period isn't automatic. When a network change is significant, Medicare sometimes allows affected members a Special Enrollment Period, decided case by case, and you can't count on one for a January 1 change. Ask 1-800-MEDICARE whether one applies to you, but plan around December 7.
• Original Medicare doesn't use networks. You can see any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare. In Florida, though, a Medigap policy is generally medically underwritten if you're leaving Advantage, so apply and get approved for a Medigap policy before you leave your Advantage plan, and pick up a stand-alone Part D plan at the same time so you don't have a gap in drug coverage.
• Retiree or union coverage? If your Advantage plan comes from a former employer or union, talk to that benefits office before you change anything; leaving it can end your retiree coverage, and you may not be able to get it back.

Protecting yourself from pressure

Medicare's marketing rules are on your side. People selling Medicare plans can't call you unless you're already a member of their plan or you've given permission, can't come to your home uninvited, and can't pressure you with lines like "you have to join this plan or you won't have coverage next year."

• Don't give your Medicare number or bank details to an unexpected caller.
• Check any agent's Florida license on the Department of Financial Services Licensee Search.
• Take your time: the window is nearly eight weeks long.
• Report problems with an agent to the Florida Department of Financial Services consumer helpline at 1-877-693-5236, and problems with a Medicare plan to 1-800-MEDICARE.

If you miss December 7

• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment, January 1 – March 31: if you're in an Advantage plan on January 1, you get one change, either to a different Advantage plan or back to Original Medicare with a stand-alone Part D plan. Returning to Original Medicare this way doesn't by itself give you a guaranteed right to a Medigap policy.
• Special Enrollment Periods: moving, losing other coverage, Medicaid or Extra Help, your plan leaving your area, a declared disaster, and other events.
• Otherwise, changes generally wait for the next Annual Enrollment Period.

Frequently asked questions

Want a second set of eyes on next year's coverage?

I'm Matt Rolph, an independent broker licensed in Florida. I'm contracted with multiple insurance companies, I'm paid by the companies rather than by you, and I don't represent every company or every plan. I can walk through your Annual Notice of Change with you, compare the plans I work with in your county against your doctors and prescriptions, and tell you honestly whether staying put makes sense. Free, by phone or video, anywhere in Florida; it's always worth checking what I show you against Medicare.gov's Plan Finder or with Florida SHINE. Call Matt or book a free call.

Sources & official references

• Medicare.gov — the Annual Enrollment Period, Special Enrollment Periods, Medigap guaranteed-issue rights, and the Plan Finder for next year's plans in your county. Or call 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048).
• CMS.gov — the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which sets the enrollment periods and the marketing rules described above.
• Florida SHINE — free, impartial Medicare counseling from Florida's State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), at 1-800-963-5337.
• Florida Department of Financial Services — agent license lookup through the Licensee Search, and the insurance consumer helpline at 1-877-693-5236.

Last reviewed: September 2026

For 65 Insurance is an independent insurance brokerage and is not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. government, the federal Medicare program, or the State of Florida. We do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 11 organizations which offer 435 products in your area. Any information here is educational and not a substitute for the official rules — to review all of your options, contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE (TTY 1-877-486-2048), or Florida SHINE, your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (1-800-963-5337).